Hothouse Orchid Read Free Page A

Hurd said.
    Holly felt as though someone had struck her. Bruno had been her commanding officer.
    Hurd saw the shock on her face. “It was a fait accompli before I found out who Bruno was; there was nothing I could do.”
    Holly recovered her voice. “How did this happen?”
    “Ironically, the council’s experience with you had been such a good one that they decided to look for another MP officer. Bruno looked good on paper, so they interviewed him. Apparently, your name didn’t come up at the time.”
    “Does the council know now who he is?”
    “I wrote a memo to the chairman, so that it would be on the record.”
    “Is it still Charlie Peterson?”
    Hurd shook his head. “Charlie died last month: heart attack, at his desk. I’m surprised you didn’t see it in the paper.”
    “I guess I’m behind a few issues,” she said. “Who is his replacement?”
    Hurd sighed. “Irma Taggert.”
    During and after Holly’s first meeting with the Orchid Beach city council and during Holly’s entire tenure as chief, Irma Taggert had been a constant thorn in her side. “That horrible pain in the ass?”
    “One and the same,” Hurd said. “She had seniority on the council, and the town’s bylaws made her chairman until the next election, which isn’t until this fall.”
    “Hurd, Irma would have voted to hire James Bruno, even if she had known who he was—maybe because he was who he was.”
    “I can’t argue with that,” Hurd said.
    “Let me tell you what’s going to happen,” Holly said. “Jim Bruno will use spit and polish mixed with charm to get the people on the force to like him. The man does have charm, I’ll give him that. Then, when he feels secure, he’ll start in on the female officers, and he’ll find a way to get rid of anybody who doesn’t come across. This is going to be bad.”
    “I wish there was something I could do,” Hurd said.
    “You can take the women aside and let them know who they’re dealing with. They need to be warned.”
    “That I can do,” Hurd said.
    “Does he know I’m in town?”
    “No. I don’t think anyone but me knows, except Ham and Ginny, of course.”
    “When does Bruno start the job?”
    “He’s already in the office.”
    “Does he know I was chief before you?”
    “I don’t know, but he certainly will soon. Your name is bound to come up in the normal course of things. Maybe I’ll tell him myself, just to see the look on his face.”
    “I’d be interested to know how he takes the news,” Holly said. “Oh, and don’t mention it to Ham; he might go down to the station and shoot Bruno.”
    “It’ll be in tomorrow’s paper,” Hurd said.
    “I’m having dinner with them tonight; I’ll break it to him and then sit on him if I have to. Ham was at the trial, you know.”
    “I didn’t know.”
    “He retired a couple of weeks after I did, and I think it was so he wouldn’t have to serve on the same base with Bruno. Or maybe even in the same army.”
    “I wouldn’t want Ham mad at me,” Hurd said.
    “You’re right about that,” Holly said.

4
    H olly dressed for dinner in starched designer jeans, a blue chambray work shirt and skinny lizard cowgirl boots. Ham had always liked it when she dressed like a boy. She checked herself in the mirror. Since she had lost the weight and colored her hair a lovely auburn she had liked her looks a lot better. She was a good five-ten in the boots, and Ham liked that, too. She wanted him happy tonight.

    H olly and Daisy arrived at Ham and Ginny’s only ten minutes late, and she could smell the meat roasting on the back-porch grill. Ginny greeted her with a hug at the front door and let Daisy put her paws on her shoulders and give her a big kiss. Ginny poured them both a Knob Creek on the rocks and another for Ham, then they went out on the back porch to watch his beef-burning skills on display, searing the biggest, thickest porterhouse steak Holly had ever seen.
    “Did you shoot that yourself?” Holly